JPS6159916B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a recording device that uses thermal energy to fly ink droplets toward a recording medium.

(Prior art) A piezoelectric element is placed in the flow path connecting the tank and the ejection port, and a signal voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element to distort it, thereby pressurizing the ink in the flow path and sending a portion of it through the ejection port. On-demand inkjet recording devices that eject ink droplets onto a recording medium are superior in that they do not generate noise during recording and can record on plain paper, but on the other hand, piezoelectric elements Since the amount of distortion is small, the effective area of the element must be increased in order to eject ink droplets of the required particle size, making it difficult to arrange a large number of ejection ports at high density. Another problem is that it takes time for the sucked ink to return when the element is restored, making it impossible to increase the recording speed.

(Purpose) The present invention was made in view of such problems, and
The purpose is to provide a new recording device that is compact and capable of high-speed recording.

(Means for achieving the objective) That is, in order to achieve the objective, the present invention has the following features:
A pressurized chamber sealed by a highly elastic pressure transmission plate is provided near the orifice for ejecting droplets in the recording liquid flow path, and a heated liquid sealed inside is supplied to the pressurized chamber in response to a recording signal. The present invention relates to a recording liquid droplet discharge type recording apparatus that is provided with a heating means for heating.

(Example) The details of the present invention will be described below based on illustrated examples.

The drawing shows an outline of a recording apparatus according to the present invention. A housing 2 constituting a head 1 is provided with an ink chamber 5 whose one end communicates with an ink tank 4 via a pipe 3. The other end of the chamber 5 is formed as an orifice 6 for ejecting ink droplets, and a pressurized chamber 8 is provided inside the chamber 5, which is opposed to the orifice 6 and sealed by a highly elastic pressure transmitting plate 7. ing.

This pressure chamber 8 is for pressurizing the ink a supplied into the ink chamber 5 according to a recording signal, and ejecting a part of it as a droplet onto a recording medium (not shown) through an orifice 6. A heating liquid b with a low boiling point such as an alcoholic, aqueous, or organic solvent is sealed in the heating element 9, and a heating element 9 made of a resistor is disposed therein. The heating liquid b is configured to generate heat in response to a signal voltage applied thereto, thereby heating and vaporizing the heated liquid b.

In the embodiment configured as described above, when a signal voltage is applied to the heating element 9 provided in the pressurizing chamber 8, the low boiling point heated liquid b sealed therein is rapidly heated and vaporized. Due to the volumetric expansion at this time, the pressure transmission plate 7 bulges outward as shown by the broken line in the figure, and the ink a, which had been stably positioned by forming a meniscus at the orifice 6 in front of it, The ink droplets are ejected toward a recording medium (not shown).

When an ink droplet is ejected from the orifice 6, new ink is supplied from the ink tank 4 as the pressure in the ink chamber 5 decreases, and this ink transfers the vaporized heated liquid b via the pressure transmission plate 7. As it cools down and returns to liquid form, it quickly forms a new meniscus with the inner surface of the orifice 6, preparing itself for the next recording.

(Effects) As described above, according to the present invention, the heated liquid in the pressurized chamber provided near the orifice is heated and vaporized, and the volumetric expansion at that time is utilized to discharge the recording liquid as droplets from the orifice. This makes it possible to significantly downsize this type of recording device by eliminating the need for a mechanism to directly pressurize the recording liquid, and at the same time, by using a low boiling point liquid as the heated liquid. It is possible to achieve a significant reduction in power consumption.

Furthermore, since the recording liquid is indirectly ejected by heating and vaporizing the heated liquid, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the recording liquid and at the same time, it is possible to repeatedly use the heated liquid.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawing is a schematic configuration diagram of an apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. 1... Head, 2... Housing, 5... Ink chamber, 6... Orifice, 7... Pressure transmission plate, 8
...pressure chamber, 9... heating element, a... ink, b...
...Liquid to be heated.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pressurized chamber sealed by a highly elastic pressure transmission plate is provided near the orifice for ejecting droplets in the recording liquid flow path, and the heated liquid sealed inside is placed in the pressurized chamber in response to a recording signal. What is claimed is: 1. A recording droplet ejection type recording device characterized in that a recording liquid droplet discharge type recording device is provided with a heating means for heating and vaporizing the recording liquid.